What’s the latest on JavaFX? Find out in the latest issue of JAX Magazine

Download the latest issue of JAX Magazine to find out about the Kickstarter making the Internet of Things that bit sweeter, get your kids coding, and more.

The road has been long – two years, seven months and eighteen
days, to be precise – but Java 8 is finally a working reality,
and it’s time to explore the terrain of Oracle’s platform. Not
everyone will be happy with the final feature list, which, aside
from headline making lambdas, is distinguished by a few significant
omissions.

Most significantly Project Jigsaw, which
developers have been hankering for since Java 6. And if you were
hoping for Oracle to address Java’s issues with modularity, runtime
dependencies and interoperability, then you’ll have to hold out for
Java 9.

On the flip side, this is a hugely significant
step forward for Oracle. Since the platform’s inception fifteen
years ago, a vibrant, complicated ecosystem has evolved around it.
It’s in the environment that functional programming concepts became
integrated into languages like Scala and Groovy – things that have
now found their way into core Java, to the delight of the
community.

One Redditor was moved to comment that “I’ve
been a full time java developer for ~15 years and this is the first
release I’ve actually looked forward to. Kind of sad, really… But
the future looks bright.” Azul Systems’ Gil Tene shares the
optimism, and in this issue, shares his some interesting ideas
about how this collective enthusiasm from the Java community could
be better harnessed for future platform updates.

We’ve taken inspiration from this wave of
forward thinking for this issue of JAX Magazine. To paraphrase the
late Whitney Houston: “I believe the children are our future” –
future programmers that is. It’s never too early to introduce the
concepts of computing to kids, in fact the sooner the better, if
you want them to be to be joining Zuckerberg et al. in the Time ‘30
Under 30’ list. Take inspiration from Mélanie Bats and get them
playing on an Arduino. She makes it sound almost painless to get
started.

We’ve also got an update on the latest
happenings in the world of JavaFX to balance it all out for the
grown-ups out there. And finally, we’re indulging in some IoT
geeking out with a feature on the delectable Wunderbar – quite
literally the sweetest bit of interconnected technology kit that
you’ve ever seen. Frankly, it seems like the perfect Easter treat,
even if we don’t recommend putting this bar anywhere near your
mouth.